Dear Friends,
As the month of November arrives, there are many things going on in the life of the church.
The church has traditionally gathered for a Thanksgiving meal during this season, and this year will be no different. This year’s meal will happen on Sunday, November 12, directly after morning worship. Coincidentally, November 12 will also be the day when the book study group wraps up its gatherings on the book “Interim Ministry in Action: A Handbook for Churches in Transition” by Norman B. Bendroth, and my hope is that members of the group will be able to share what they have learned and what has challenged them over the course of the study as the lunch wraps up, as well as looking ahead to what the next steps for the church will be. I hope you will not only be able to come enjoy the lunch, but also to join in the discussion as to how this church might proceed towards the call of a new installed pastor.
Also, for those who have not been able to submit pledge cards yet, November is the month when the budget has to be worked out, taking into account the financial needs of the church, pledges made, and whatever other resources might be available to the church. If you haven’t been able to submit yet, please do so as soon as possible. No pledge is too small; what you can afford to give is between you and God, and nobody else needs to know.
Once November is over, the “New Year” is upon us – new church year, that is. December 3 will mark the first Sunday of Advent, and that season will see a different kind of group study, one that will involve listening as much as reading. For the four Sundays of Advent we will study a portion of the oratorio Messiah, by George Frideric Handel. Specifically, we will listen to and study the opening works of the oratorio, works which get an awful lot of performance and airplay during the season. There is a book that can be read for the study, “Hallelujah: The Bible and Handel’s Messiah,” but it might be more important to have a recording of Messiah for your own listening. After the calendar New Year, the study will resume during Lent with an examination of other parts of the oratorio (and the same book contains those studies as well).
Busy times are ahead for the church. Be sure to make time for your own devotion and study.
Charles